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Mayhem erupted when a group of masked Death Eaters began blasting away tents and torturing the Muggle Roberts family; rioting ended when Barty Crouch Jr. shot the Dark Mark into the sky, scaring away the Death Eaters.

"Granger, they're after Muggles. D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around... they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh."

As he had made his many Horcruxes, Lord Voldemort did not die that night in Godric's Hollow.[5] The fragment of his soul that remained in his living body was driven out when his Killing Curse backfired. It continued to exist in a spectral form, and he fled the scene.[6] In Albania, he knew of a quiet hiding place where he had found Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem years previous. There he went to hide hoping that one of his servants would come for him. They did not. Many of the Death Eaters who could be identified were arrested by Aurors and sentenced to Azkaban. Some, such as Evan Rosier, decided to fight to the death rather than face prison.[7] Many, however, were able to reintegrate themselves into wizarding society claiming that they acted only under the Imperius Curse. There were some, among whom was Lucius Malfoy, who kept their beliefs but did not practise them openly using a facade of respectability to protect themselves from suspicion.[6]

In 1991, an easily manipulated Hogwarts professor, Quirinus Quirrell, stumbled across Voldemort's hiding place in Albania.[8] The Dark Lord used his great power of persuasion to convince Quirrell to act for him, though they were thwarted by the very boy Voldemort had attempted to kill that fateful night in 1981, Harry Potter.[8] Following this defeat, Lord Voldemort returned to Albania, his morale at an all time low, thinking that no one was coming for him.[6] Then, in summer of 1994, Peter Pettigrew, otherwise known as Wormtail, who had faked his death and framed Sirius Black for his crimes, returned to Voldemort's service after he had been found out by his former friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. With Pettigrew's help, Voldemort was able to return to a rudimentary body that needed constant tending but allowed him to perform magic. In this form, he returned with Wormtail to Britain.[6]

Soon after his arrival in Azkaban, Crouch Jr.'s mother became fatally ill. She asked her husband for one last favour; she wanted to trade her dying form for her son's in Azkaban. Just before her death, she and her husband visited Barty Jr. in his cell, and by way of Polyjuice Potion, they swapped places. As dementors are blind, this went without notice. Once back in his home, Crouch Jr. was kept a complete secret. He spent his days under an Invisibility cloak and was always under the Imperius Curse. However, at some point, he was discovered by Bertha Jorkins, a witch in his father's department at the Ministry.

Eventually, he began fighting the Imperius Curse and there were times when he would suddenly become aware of his surroundings. His keeper, Winky the house-elf, would occasionally ask his father to grant him treats. One of these was a trip to the Quidditch World Cup in 1994.

After the match was over, the surrounding area was afire with excitement. The Irish fans were partying loudly, and everyone was enjoying the festivities. Harry and his friends stayed up late into the night talking about the game. Finally, after numerous recaps and Quidditch stories, when Ginny fell asleep at the table, Mr. Weasley ordered everyone to bed. Soon after, they were awoken by commotion outside. Originally, Fred thought it was the Irish celebrating, but then was disturbed to see masked men burning tents and causing much commotion. They became particularly horrified when they discovered the mob torturing a Muggle man, Roberts, and his family.

Seeing the rioters approaching, Mr. Weasley ordered his underage children and their friends to flee, while he and the older Weasleys attempted to help the Ministry. After Harry, Hermione, and the younger Weasleys reached the woods, Harry discovered that he had lost his wand, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly became separated from Fred, George, and Ginny. Stumbling deeper into the forest, the trio happened upon Draco Malfoy, who was watching the proceedings with delight. After dropping hints that his father was among the rioters, he pointedly warned Hermione to run for it, telling her that the crowd was after Muggles. This caused Ron and Harry to jump to Hermione's defence, but after Malfoy departed, Ron worriedly suggested that they move deeper into the woods, looking at Hermione.

Minutes later, they were drawn to a clearing aglow with a silver light. There, they discovered some of the Veela mascots of the Bulgarian National Quidditch team, surrounded by men drawn in by their charms attempting to impress them, including Knight Bus conductor, Stan Shunpike. Even Ron, who had shown a weakness for the Veelas' power, was affected, claiming he created a broomstick that could travel to Jupiter. After Harry and Hermione dragged Ron from the clearing, the trio ventured deeper into the woods. Finding a quiet spot, they decided to wait there for the commotion to subside, only to be interrupted by a deep voice yelling "Morsmorde."

They turned to see a green form rising from the woods. It formed into a green skull with a snake coming from its mouth: the Dark Mark. Soon the trio heard the popping sounds of Ministry officials Apparating into the woods. Realising what was about to happen, Harry dragged his compatriots to the ground as the Ministry people fired off Stunning Spells. Among the Ministry officials, Arthur Weasley saw that his son had been attacked and called them off. Bartemius Crouch Sr., the most senior official present, stepped up and began to aggressively question Harry, Ron, and Hermione. When they pointed to the spot where they had heard the voice coming from, the officials found Winky, the Crouch familyhouse-elf. When it was posited that the elf could not have cast the spell, Cedric Diggory's father, Amos presented a wand the the elf had been carrying.

When Harry saw the wand, he quickly claimed it as his own, drawing accusations from Amos Diggory. Diggory came to his senses when challenged by Arthur Weasley and returned to questioning the house-elf. This questioning was quite harsh, and Diggory continually referred to Winky as "elf." Winky denied casting the Dark Mark, and Arthur Weasley supported her, stating that it was highly unlikely that the elf knew the incantation. This caused Diggory to impulsively accuse Crouch, but this was quickly brushed aside with indignation. Harry, Hermione, and Ron corroborated Winky's denial claiming that a deeper, human voice cast the curse. At this, Crouch searched the woods, and when he returned he sacked Winky for failing to honour her family.

Aftermath

Ministry officials were able to rescue the Roberts family, but the sudden appearance of the Dark Mark hampered their ability to apprehend the rioters who were frightened off at the sight of their former master's emblem. After the fiasco in the forest, Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned to their tent with Mr. Weasley. Once there, Mr. Weasley and his eldest son Bill explained to the younger wizards the significance of the Dark Mark, the Death Eaters, and their link to Lord Voldemort.

Rumours spread like wildfire in the wake of the riot, and many concerned citizens were waiting at the edge of the woods with questions. These rumours were not quelled by Arthur Weasley's vague explanations when he, Harry, Ron, and Hermione exited the wood. The morning edition of the Daily Prophet ran a scathing critique of the Ministry's security measures, written by Rita Skeeter. In the article, she insinuated that bodies had been removed from the woods, though this was untrue.